Red Light Winter illuminates ill-fated ménage à trois

By Carl Pickerill / June 3, 2005

Don’t attend Red Light Winter for the sex, because it’s not very good. Even when 30-second man, Matt (played by Christopher Denham) spruces up the sex in a retrospective recollection of passionate yet ephemeral events, the audience knows that he’s either kidding himself or that the hedonistic euphoria that has dominated his life is due...

Scripture gets Southern-fried in Cotton Patch Gospel

By Carl Pickerill / May 13, 2005

Of all the Hollywood- and Broadway-style renditions of the life of Christ, Harry Chapin’s Cotton Patch Gospel, a bluegrass version of the oft-told story, might border on something of which even the most pious Christian would approve: benign, upbeat, light-hearted, accessible. It may not be as friendly toward Southern evangelists as Jerry Falwell might have...

Weezer remains elusive to wide spectrum of fans

By Carl Pickerill / May 13, 2005

The Aragon Ballroom lacks all semblance of charm. The managers, therefore, feel compelled to lure top-notch bands that bring in the multitudes. Weezer filled the role last Wednesday evening while on tour to support their new album Make Believe, brandishing their nerd-rock to a sold-out crowd under the artificial terra-cotta and kitschy Mediterranean façades that...

Local library offers Hyde Park a smaller alternative to the Reg

By Carl Pickerill / May 10, 2005

The Blackstone Memorial Public Library— a majestic granite relic with a classical Greek appearance on the northern side of Lake Park Boulevard, past the Co-Op and Borders—seems at odds with the architecture surrounding it today, especially with the Regenstein Library a few miles away. “Whenever you’re exposed to something, and you come back 30 to...

Students consider investing in Hyde Park real estate

By Carl Pickerill / May 3, 2005

Second-year in the College Emily Brice thought it might be wise to forgo the traditional apartment search in lieu of something more permanent upon moving out of the dorms—her own place. So, seeking to avoid inattentive landlords and gain more personal jurisdiction over her living arrangements, as well as turn her living environment into a...

Lawyers offer services free of charge

By Carl Pickerill / April 29, 2005

“Law Day,” an event featuring Chicago-area attorneys speaking on legal topics to community members, will take place this Saturday, April 30, at the Bessie Coleman Library on 731 East 63rd Street from 1 to 3 p.m. The Woodlawn Community Service Corporation (WCSC) will sponsor the annual event in conjunction with the Chicago Bar Association and...

UT explores middle-class despair in A Doll’s House

By Carl Pickerill / April 18, 2005

The multiplicity of themes that Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House provides a student director inundates even the most diffuse of theatrical commentators with meaty social commentary that attempts to get to the point of good old real life. The challenge of harnessing Ibsen’s narrative powers thus proves itself comparable to deciphering the main thesis of...

Credit union offers an alternative to Hyde Park banks

By Carl Pickerill / April 12, 2005

When attorney and former Divinity School student Al Hofeld graduated from law school, his exploits took him back to the South Side of Chicago. Hofeld co-founded the South Side Community Federal Credit Union (SSCFCU), which opened in November 2003. The community credit union is the first of its kind on the South Side, and has...

Elshtein, terror victim speak out

By Carl Pickerill / February 25, 2005

A terror attack victim, a famed author on the war on terror, and an attorney who represents terror victims came together to discuss terrorism in the Middle East at a seminar entitled Perspectives on Terrorism: Personal, Moral, and Legal, this past Tuesday, February 22, in Social Sciences 122. The event was sponsored by Chicago Friends...

Additional Reg stacks may be built, replacing popular campus tennis courts

By Carl Pickerill / January 25, 2005

The Joseph Regenstein Library, a 1970s campus relic, will soon be undergoing a facelift, as the University is currently working on plans to expand the bulging behemoth by 2008. Provost Richard Saller included the Regenstein expansion in the University’s list of proposed construction projects at a Hyde Park community panel two weeks ago, but wrote...

Cross-campus group collects books for Baghdad library

By Carl Pickerill / January 25, 2005

During this tumultuous time in Iraq’s rebuilding efforts, the students of Baghdad University have reason to remain optimistic: campuses across the United States, Canada, and England are collecting thousands of textbooks as part of a campaign to revitalize Baghdad University’s library, which has suffered a critical shortage of academic resources and books for its students....

Mearsheimer, others discuss “democratic intervention”

By Carl Pickerill / January 25, 2005

Armchair politicians not joining the aspiring revolutionaries for the University counter-inauguration last Thursday packed the International House’s Assembly Hall for a panel discussion featuring four prominent scholars of international affairs. John Mearsheimer, political science professor, headlined a list that included Richard Shweder, professor in Human Development, Andrew Arato, professor in political and social theory at...

Jesus Christ, why are you such a Superstar?

By Carl Pickerill / January 21, 2005

The Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber version of Jesus, played by Eric Kunze, swings from elevated esplanades in summer beach garb. JC dons a pair of American khakis and an open-buttoned off-white shirt—looking much like the disgruntled Parisian who’s survived a blustery winter only to discover the wonders of springtime in the Riviera. Meanwhile,...

Alderman, administrators address community issues

By Carl Pickerill / January 18, 2005

Administrators Richard Saller and Henry Webber presented publicly the University’s construction plans in Chicago’s fifth ward last Thursday night at the International House, fielding questions from concerned Hyde Park residents about architectural preservation, possible tenant evictions, and increased property taxes. There was little University community tension in comparison to prior events on University expansion, which...

Expansion draws ire of Woodlawn residents

By Carl Pickerill / November 21, 2004

A few of Woodlawn and Grove Parc’s tired, poor, and huddled masses gathered Wednesday night in Cobb Coffee Shop at an RSO-sponsored event, putting a face on the community that will be largely driven by the University’s expansion south of the Midway. “Bursting the Bubble: Everything you wanted to know about Woodlawn but were afraid...

So sue me

By Carl Pickerill / November 21, 2004

Edelman, Combs, Latturner & Goodwin, a Chicago law firm, filed a class-action lawsuit Thursday against the Illinois Department of Public Aid. The suit alleged that the department has not adequately processed requests of low-income residents for financial aid to pay energy bills. The case will be heard Friday morning in federal court. Under current law,...

Take a walk on the Wilde side with UT’s witty, gender-bending Earnest

By Carl Pickerill / November 21, 2004

Score one for rapidity. UT’s production of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest knows no bound to its speedy upward trajectories. Its actors rattle off classic one-liners and unforgettable Wildesque dialogue with such fleeting abandon that one feels privileged to hear brilliance and inadequate to resist being dominated by it. I left the theater...

Checkerboard to open by springtime

By Carl Pickerill / November 12, 2004

By the time students return from winter break, construction will have begun on the future home of the Checkerboard Lounge, Hyde Park’s first live all-jazz locale in 20 years. University Director of Real Estate Development Jo Reizner said that the University expects construction to start within the next few weeks, and that the Checkerboard Lounge...

Group offers new solution to Mid East peace process: Aikido

By Carl Pickerill / November 7, 2004

Relations in Israel remain tense as Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat remains bedridden and, according to Israeli president Ariel Sharon’s decree, “banned from the holy city of Jerusalem—even in death.” But while tensions boil in the region, a University initiative led by sociology professor Donald Levine is seeking to quell the violence by initiating a fight...

Food sales promote Woodlawn building developments

By Carl Pickerill / November 2, 2004

Students passing Cobb Hall on Fridays this month may have noticed University alum Matthew Ginsberg trying to persuade them to enjoy South Side culinary fare: fried chicken, fried fish, and black eyed peas. His efforts are part of Meals for Affordable Housing, a program to empower Woodlawn residents to take control of a housing situation...

Playwright Hughes squeezes humor out of an Angela’s Ashes situation

By Carl Pickerill / October 28, 2004

Geraldine Hughes’ big, bright, Irish-blue eyes—whose radiance she embellishes in Belfast Blues, a play currently in its third weekend at the Mercury Theater—betray a gleam and a certain sense of trepidation amidst her anecdotal account of her childhood in war-torn Belfast of the 1970s and ’80s. The play—a one-person act in which Hughes assumes the...

University looks to city for traffic control on Midway

By Carl Pickerill / October 28, 2004

A string of accidents around the Midway and Ellis intersections—including last week’s hit-and-run that left a University student hospitalized—has spurred discussion about traffic improvements on the Midway. The University is pushing the city of Chicago and the local alderman to implement several intersection changes, according to Sonya Malunda, the assistant vice president of community affairs...

Local Chicago aldermen to appoint Obama’s back-up

By Carl Pickerill / October 27, 2004

The possible election of law school lecturer Barack Obama to the U.S. Senate has managed not only to ravage Illinois’ floundering Republican party, but it has also presented local Chicago aldermen with the task of appointing a new senator to fill Obama’s state senate spot. There are seven candidates for the appointment, though only one...

Woodlawn residents see decline in gang activity

By Carl Pickerill / October 27, 2004

Woodlawn community members attribute the drop in gang activity over the past several months to the continued collaboration between the University Police Department (UCPD) and the Chicago Police Department’s (CPD) 3rd District. The cooperation—which has led to a decrease in unified gang activity south of 61st Street—promises to provide Woodlawn with an improved image, and...

Woodlawn group celebrates anniversary

By Carl Pickerill / October 24, 2004

The fourth anniversary of the Woodlawn Community Service Organization took place this past Saturday at the Bessie Coleman Library on 63rd Street in Woodlawn. The event featured guest speaker Mr. Kweku Embil, the principal of the Woodlawn Community School, a K-6 elementary school on 67th Street. Embil spoke about the recent successes of the reading...

Woodlawn leadership calls for more businesses

By Carl Pickerill / October 17, 2004

Woodlawn community leaders say their neighborhood is in dire need of more local jobs while community organizations hope that their training programs can alleviate the problem. The need for increased employment opportunities in Woodlawn is essential to the health of the community, said Gail Taylor of the Woodlawn Community Service Corporation (WCSC). “We need jobs,”...

Community panel examines stresses of juggling work, family life

By Carl Pickerill / May 8, 2003

Seeking to address the concerns of working-class parents in today’s post-industrial economic environment, the University Community Service Center (UCSC) hosted a discussion examining the often-difficult task of juggling work and family. With a speaking panel of three Chicago area activists, the Wednesday evening event, “Welfare to Wall Street: What People, Governments, and Corporations Can Do...

An admirable alderman

By Carl Pickerill / May 1, 2003

Belonging to a city neighborhood in the bustling metropolis of Chicago is a lot like belonging to a small village. Chicago’s 50 wards, stretching over countless urban neighborhoods, individually comprise the sort of pseudo-autonomous Tocquevillian civic places so characteristic of early American development. Replete with instances of individual enterprise, the wards attain a voice within...

Conference will examine local effects of globalization

By Carl Pickerill / April 24, 2003

The University plays host this weekend to the fifth annual globalization conference, the open session of which will be held today at 2 p.m. at the International House. Discussion sessions at Judd Hall Saturday morning and afternoon will follow, during which University students will present the results of original research before a panel of distinguished...

Series looks at transformations of South Side

By Carl Pickerill / April 21, 2003

Transformation of Chicago’s South Side is the theme of an eight-week speaker series, which began this past Thursday with an appearance and address by Timuel Black, a professor at the Chicago City Colleges and longtime writer and historian of Chicago. The series, organized by Angels of Def, a University student group promoting community awareness, aims...

Council passes law to protect city’s affordable housing units

By Carl Pickerill / April 14, 2003

The Chicago City Council approved a piece of legislation Wednesday requiring developers to guarantee that at least 10 percent of their units remain affordable to those with lower incomes. Sponsored by Mayor Richard Daley, the Plan for Transformation passed by a vote of 44?1. It comes on the heels of a plan championed by Fourth...

Concerns surface that Woodlawn renovations will force out community members

By Carl Pickerill / April 4, 2003

The effort to revitalize Woodlawn, the University’s southern neighbor and home to University building’s including the Law School and Burton-Judson Courts, has sparked concern that an improved housing stock will drive up housing and rental prices, placing them out of some residents’ reach. Working-class residents fear that the skyrocketing prices of townhomes and rental units...

Voter turnout low for local alderman races

By Carl Pickerill / February 28, 2003

Local incumbents rolled to victories in city elections Tuesday. Following the lead of Chicago mayor Richard Daley, who won the majority in every ward in the city, local aldermen coasted to easy victories. The closest race in the Hyde Park-Kenwood-Woodlawn vicinity took place in the 20th ward, where incumbent Arenda Troutman staved off challenger Howard...

Candidates finish housing debate

By Carl Pickerill / February 25, 2003

Elections commence citywide today as local aldermanic candidates in the fourth, fifth, and 20th wards concluded their campaigns by turning with increasing intensity to the contentious issue of urban housing. A number of forums and meetings held in Hyde Park and Woodlawn in the past few weeks have dealt with the region’s changing demographics and...

5th Ward alderman candidates debate housing and public safety

By Carl Pickerill / February 14, 2003

A largely pro-incumbent Leslie Hairston crowd turned out to listen to the alderman and her opponent, Oscar Worrill–a member of the Development Committee of South Shore Chamber, Inc.–promote their platforms at the Montgomery Place Retirement Center in Hyde Park Tuesday night. Instead of wavering from the major themes found in the majority of the aldermanic...

20th Ward alderman candidates hold local forum

By Carl Pickerill / February 7, 2003

The three challengers to incumbent Arenda Troutman were given the chance to bring their views to the community Monday night during the 20th Ward aldermanic forum held at Christ Apostolic Church in Woodlawn. The 20th Ward, which includes most of Woodlawn (including the Law School, Midway Studios, Burton-Judson Courts, and the School of Social Service...

Preckwinkle faces slimmer field in 4th Ward aldermanic election

By Carl Pickerill / February 4, 2003

The field has dwindled to three candidates for the Fourth Ward, as aldermanic elections slated for February 25 rapidly approach. Incumbent Toni Preckwinkle stated in a telephone interview that the most contentious issues of this year’s campaign will be the future residential development of the ward. She pointed to current housing redevelopment programs in Bronzeville...

New housing influx in Woodlawn spurs rising property tax rates

By Carl Pickerill / January 24, 2003

Following recent trends of urban revitalization seen in Bronzeville, Woodlawn has been experiencing a dramatic influx of new housing development. While this promises to usher in an era of prosperity to the historically problem-ridden community, many longtime residents are concerned that new housing developments will drive up their taxes and potentially drive them out of...

SECC detects burglary patterns

By Carl Pickerill / January 17, 2003

A series of burglaries occurring between the end of October and the beginning of January have targeted a number of local businesses in the Kenwood-Hyde Park area, according to the South East Chicago Commission, a non-profit organization that charts community crime. Since late October, 19 local businesses were entered by force through their front or...

McDonald’s, Borders will change 53rd Street landscape soon

By Carl Pickerill / December 3, 2002

In the coming months, 53rd Street is set to undergo commercial changes, as Borders Books and Music and McDonald’s plan to open new locations. Alderman Toni Preckwinkle said the initiative to bring Borders to Hyde Park was largely the result of the efforts of the Hyde Park Bank, which has leased the land to the...